Door seal construction



March 2, 1965 F. G. HEIMANN ETAL DOOR SEAL CONSTRUCTION Filed July 5, 1962 INVENTORS FRED G. HEIMANN ROBERT G. FLAGAN United States Patent 3,171,166 DOORSEAL CONSTRUCTIGN Fred G. HeimanmMountClemens, and Robert G. Flagan, Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., assignors to Fruehauf Corporation; acorporation of Michigan Filed July 5, 1962, Ser. No. 207,497 1 Claim. (Cl. 2069) This invention relates generally to seals and more particularly to an improved door seal construction.

Shipment of perishable goods by land vehicles generally requires that the vehicles be thoroughly insulated to maintain the interior thereof at a temperature compatible with the goods being shipped. Therefore, the thermal integrity of the doors leading into such vehicles must be maintained over relatively long periods of time incident to travel between distant points.

A door seal construction in accordance with the instant invention materially reduces heat transfer between the interior of an insulated enclosure and the ambient environment.

A door seal construction in accordance with the instant invention comprises a relatively deep and wide memory element that is resiliently flexible so as to maintain a pressure seal on a door jamb when the door is closed and to return to its original configuration upon opening of the door. The memory material is provided with a plurality of uniquely contoured sealing fingers, the crosssectional configuration of which provides for conformation of a plurality of spaced parallel sealing surfaces thereon to a complementary surface on the door jamb. The memory element is relieved adjacent each finger to facilitate the aforementioned fiexural movement.

The memory element is coated with an outer skin to preclude tearing and abrasion thereof.

Accordingly, one object of the instant invention is an improved door seal construction.

Another object is a door seal construction utilizing a memory element having a plurality of sealing fingers.

Another object is an improved cross sectional configuration for a memory element of a door seal.

Another object of the instant invention is a seal comprising a resilient foam memory element having an outer coating to preclude scufling and tearing thereof.

Another object of the instant invention is an improved configuration for the resilient sealing fingers of a door seal.

Other objects and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent in the following specification, claim and drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a highway vehicle having an access door therein provided with a seal construction in accordance with the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded view of the door taken substantially within the circle 2 of FIGURE 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIGURE 1; and

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional View similar to FIG. 3 showing movement of the resilient sealing fingers to a decompressed condition upon opening of the door in the vehicle front wall.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a van-type highway vehicle comprises a trailer 12 that is coupled to a tractor 14 in the conventional manner. The trailer 12 is provided with a door 16 in a front walllsth'ereof, for example, a refrigerant compressor access door. A door frame 20 having angularly inwardly extending jamb portions 22 is formed in the wall'18 for the acceptance of the door 16. The door 16 is pivotally supported for rotation with respect to the door frame 20 and as by a hinge 24. The door 16 is preferably provided with a frontal surface 26 of, for example, plywood.

In accordance with an exemplary constructed embodiment of the instant invention, a door seal 30 comprises a relatively deep and wide memory element 42 of, for example, polyurethane foam having an outer skin 44 of, for example, polyvinyl chloride. The polyvinyl chloride outer skin 44 is preferably applied to the memory element 42 as by spraying.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, the seal 30 comprises a plurality of fingers 50, 52 and 54 having outer surfaces 56, 58 and 60 normally angularly related to the jamb surface 22 of the door frame 20 (FIG. 4). The fingers 50, 52 and 54 have recesses 64, 66 and 68 disposed outwardly thereof, respectively, to implement flexure of the fingers 50, 52 and 54 to the position shown in FIG. 3 upon closing of the door 16 into the door frame 20.

As can be seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the fingers 50, 52 and 54 flex outwardly relative to the door 16, so that the outer sealing surfaces 56, 58 and 60 thereof move into parallel juxtaposed sealing engagement with the door jamb 22.

An outer seal extends around the periphery of the door 16 to preclude the infiltration of foreign matter between the door 16 and frame 20.

The improved sealing characteristics of the seal 30 over seals heretofore known and used is obtained by the aforementioned outward fiexure of the fingers 50, 52 and 54, which brings the sealing surfaces 56, 58 and 60, respectively, into intimate pressure engagement with the door jamb 22. The provision of the recesses 64, 66 and 68 outwardly of the fingers 50, 52 and 64 on the seal 30 permits otuward flexure of the fingers 50, 52 and 54 upon movement of the door 16 into the door frame 20 and also forms dead-air cavities upon closure of the door 16 into the door frame 20 to minimize heat transfer by conduction through the space between the door 16 and frame 20.

The initial angular relationship of the sealing surfaces 56, 58 and 60 on the fingers 50, 52 and 54, respectively, relative to the angle of the door jamb 22 on the door frame 20, the resiliency of the memory element 42, and the configuration of the cavities 64, 66 and 68 are mutually complementary so that upon closing of the door 16 into the door frame 20, the sealing surfaces 56, 58 and 60 are flexed into juxtaposed parallel relationship with the door jamb 22 when the door 16 is closed.

The outer covering 44 on the seal 30 is also important, since it precludes scufling and tearing of the seal 30 due to working of the door 16 relative to the door frame 20 or upon repeated opening of the door 16.

It is to be understood that the specific construction of the improved door seal construction herein disclosed and described is presented for the purpose of explanation and illustration and is not intended to indicate limits of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the following claim.

What is claimed is:

A seal construction for a door having a complementary door frame with an angularly inwardly extending jamb surface, said seal construction comprising a relatively deep and Wide resilient and compressible foam memory element on an edge portion of said door, said memory element having a plurality of spaced substantially continuous foam fingers having generally planar sealing faces at the ends thereof, respectively, angularly related to the associated jamb surface on said door frame when said door is in the open condition relative thereto, the fingers of said memory element being compressible and deflectable upon closing of said door to bring the sealing faces thereon, respectively, into intimate sealing engagement with the jamb surface on the door frame, said memory element having recessed portions adjacent to and spaced outwardly from said fingers, respectively, to facilitate fiexure of said fingers and to define spaced dead air spaces References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,142,431 Wilkoff et a1. Jan. 3, 1939 2,190,954 Stickel Feb. 20, 1940 2,331,340 Mosher Oct. 12, 1943 2,622,286 Beck Dec. 23, 1952 2,671,041 Dodge Mar. 2, 1954 2,680,888 Jarrow June 15, 1954 2,845,666 Knapp Aug. 5, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 43,938 Norway Apr. 19, 1927 1,193,767 France Nov. 4, 1959 

